OUR VISION
Creating a world where people with disabilities are free to be.
OUR MISSION
The Disability Justice Network of British Columbia (BC) aims to build a just and accessible British Columbia, wherein disabled people:
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Have personal and political agency
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Can thrive and foster community
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Build the power, capacity, and skills needed to hold people, communities, and institutions responsible for the spaces they create
OUR VALUES
Accountability: Our work is community-led and accountable to disabled people.
Building Community Capacity: We work collaboratively with local community members, movements and organizations to seek equity and justice for disabled people.
Justice: We work beyond current legislation to prioritize access, empowerment and liberation for disabled people, including the creation of sustainable support systems.
Open Door: Our door is always open. We welcome all people who support DJNO’s vision, mission, and valuess.
Resource Sharing: We are committed to supporting those with the least resources first, and addressing the dynamic needs of our communities equitably.
Self-Determination: We respect and support disabled people and the choices they make to build better futures for themselves and their collectives. This includes the choice to disclose, discuss and manage their disability.
10 PRINCIPLES OF DISABILITY JUSTICE
Intersectionality: “We do not live single-issue lives” –Audre Lorde. Ableism, coupled with white supremacy, supported by capitalism, underscored by heteropatriarchy, has rendered the vast majority of the world “invalid.”
Leadership of Those Most Impacted: “We are led by those who most know these systems.” –Aurora Levins Morales.
Anti-capitalist Politic: In an economy that sees land and humans as components of profit, we are anti-capitalist by the nature of having non-conforming body/minds.
Commitment to Cross-movement Organizing: Shifting how social justice movements understand disability and contextualize ableism, disability justice lends itself to politics of alliance.
Recognizing Wholeness: People have inherent worth outside of commodity relations and capitalist notions of productivity. Each person is full of history and life experience.
Sustainability: We pace ourselves, individually and collectively, to be sustained long-term. Our embodied experiences guide us toward ongoing justice and liberation.
Commitment to Cross-disability Solidarity: We honour the insights and participation of all of our community members, knowing that isolation undermines collective liberation.
Interdependence: We meet each others’ needs as we build toward liberation, knowing that state solutions inevitably extend into further control over lives.
Collective Access: As disabled people we bring flexibility and creative nuance that go beyond able-bodied/minded normativity, to be in community with each other.
Collective Liberation: No body or mind can be left behind – only moving together can we accomplish the revolution we require.